More of Monica's Denali Training...

4/18-24
This week started out great, and ended with a crash. Sunday the 18th I got up very early, and my dog and I set out into the Boise foothills for 3 hours and ten minutes, with 70 lbs on my back. It was a gorgeous day, and I saw very few people. It ended up being 80 degrees, so I was glad I started early. Monday was CrossFit. The workout was called “Tabata something else”. Tabatas are basically intervals, and it was as many repetitions as possible in 8 rounds of pull-ups, push ups, sit ups and air squats. We do as many as possible for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds. 8 rounds of each. Surprisingly challenging.
Tuesday I got back outside with 70 pounds for 2 hours. Felt great!
Wednesday CrossFit was “Burp and Row”. For rowing we use the Concept 2 Rower. Great little piece of equipment!! Burpees consist of jumping down into a squat, thrusting your legs into a push up position, doing a push up, jumping back into a squat and jumping up at least 10 inches. Form gets really poor as you get tired. We rowed 1000 meters, did 20 burpees. Rowed 750 meters, 40 burpees. Rowed 500 meters, did 60 burpees. Rowed 250 meters, did 80 burpees. This is, of course, timed. Despite cussing at my trainer at around repetition 68 of the last round, I finished in 29:36.
Thursday was my day off. I had scheduled a Gyrotonics session, which I try to do about every 6 weeks. Some people call it yoga for dancers, and it is one of these mind-body forms of exercise kind of like Pilates. Unlike Pilates, it uses 3-dimensional, circular and rotational movements. I love this, especially now, since all this hiking has me in a repetitively linear, sagittal movement pattern. I left feeling so relaxed, lithe and graceful.
Friday was back to CrossFit. The workout was: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 repetitions of Deadlifts, Bench Press and Cleans. I kept it on the lighter side, since my goal is to get up that mountain, not be a CrossFit queen. So, my deadlifts were 160 pounds, bench presses 70 pounds, cleans 75 pounds. I tried to be very careful with my form, since Deadlifts in particular are great for blowing out lumbar discs.
Saturday was training hike. It was miserable. My poor back was so sore I could barely stand up straight. So, I loaded up 70 pounds and kept at it for just under 3 hours, but covered very little ground. It was not good. Tomorrow I will see how I feel and either go lighter or take the day off and heal up. Woohoo!
-Monica